


Sugar Puff

by stellarparallax



Series: Secrets of the Ishval Civil War [1]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Ishbal | Ishval, Ishbalan Character(s) | Ishvalan Character(s), Minor Original Character(s), Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-02 19:59:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10951677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarparallax/pseuds/stellarparallax
Summary: Winry and Scar visit Ishval -- Winry to help out mechanics there, and Scar to oversee the development of buildings and industries. A chance encounter with someone leads Winry to discover a part of her parents' lives that she never knew about.





	Sugar Puff

"It's not that I don't enjoy your company, but don't they have their own mechanics to deal with automail repairs?" asked Scar.

"They do, but the weather hasn't been great and quite a few of them are down with nasty colds. I'm just going to do what I can," Winry's eyes shone with excitement in spite of the grim circumstance. There was nothing that interested her more than studying different automail designs and configurations. If she could, she would do a complete change of Edward's automail each time he needed a tune up so that she could perfect her skills. But alas, Edward was a stubborn creature of habit. One screw slightly tighter than before and he would pout and refuse to talk to her for hours. 

"Will you be all right on your own? I don't have time to show you around because I need to oversee all the developments and talk to leaders."

"Oh no, it's fine! I've visited Ishval with Riza and Roy before to train the young budding mechanics. Just make sure you meet me for dinner because I have no idea how to read Ishvalan on menus."

"That I can do," he smiled fondly at her. The start of their friendship was far from civil, but he was starting to warm up to her. Winry was the third Amestrian to have shown him genuine kindness and grace. The first two being her parents. He felt a pang of guilt in his chest.

"Scar, is everything okay?"

"Yeah," he sighed.

The train screeched to a halt as it reached the train station at Ishval. The station was a lot busier than Scar remembered it being, in large part due to the Ishval being made into a major official trading point along the new cross-desert rail system that spanned from Amestris to Xing. The Central Government had been injecting a lot of income into the Ishvalan economy by establishing the wheat and cotton industry. They were far from a built nation, but it was a start and a good one at that. Each time he returned to Ishval, he would be surprised by how developed it was gradually becoming.

"Winry, Winry!" they heard a voice call out.

"Ah, Ahmed! It's so good to see you!" she hurried over to him, turning back once to wave to Scar. 

Ahmed looked young, perhaps even younger than fifteen. If he was one of the mechanics that Winry trained, Scar had no doubt that he was competent. It felt good to have a reason to believe in the success of his own home that was once torn apart by the civil war. Scar allowed a soft but slight smile grace his lips as he headed towards the mayor's office.

New and improved Ishval continued to surprise him. The streets had brand new streetlamps and the shops looked well-maintained. It was no wonder that many of his friends back at Central would talk endlessly about how they enjoyed taking vacations there. It was quickly developing into a bustling nation while retaining the charm of a quaint village. If he had been told a few years ago that this would have been the eventual outcome of the Ishval Civil War, he wouldn't have believed it. Finally he arrived at the mayor's office and he rapped on the glass door before pushing it open and stepping in.

"Major Scar, I've been so excited waiting for you to arrive! Come, come, sit!"

"Mayor Maya," he smile down at the woman with the slight frame, "It's always a pleasure to return. How has the development projects been going?"

"Well, very well. Although it seems that we may need a slight increase in the budget for some additions that some of the residents here have requested... Perhaps about ten percent?"

"That shouldn't be a problem. Write up a proposal and I'll take it to the heads at Central."

"Wonderful!" she beamed, "Say, would you like to come over to dinner with my wife and myself tonight?"

"That sounds good but I already have dinner plans with a friend who came here with me. She's Amestrian and she doesn't understand enough Ishvalan to order food."

"Bring her along! We always have room for more! Lena is quite the cook."

He said as he stood up and got ready to take his leave, "I'll call you as soon as I can to let you know if she's comfortable with it."

He saluted her before turning around and leaving her office. He continued down the street towards the hospital. There, he'd have to check their inventory reports for discrepancies and to ask if they needed to order more medical supplies. 

 

* * *

 

"What... What if they don't like me?"

"Why would anyone not like you, Winry? It's just dinner, it will be fine."

"Okay," she mumbled as she clutched onto the box of the cake that she had bought on the way to their home.

Scar knocked on the door and waited. Maya opened the door and invited them in. The interior was furnished with bean bag chairs, furry rugs and a dining table close to the door leading to the kitchen. They took a seat at the dining table and made small talk. Maya and Lena were practically newly-weds and had gotten married somewhere after Scar's last visit, which was two years ago. Maya had always spoken fondly of Lena, but Scar never had the opportunity to meet her before.

Soon, Lena emerged from the kitchen with a large bowl of food. Her eyes widened and she would have dropped the bowl if Maya had not stood up and caught it. 

"Lena, are you all right?" she took the bowl from her and quickly placed it on the table.

"He... He... I... ah...," she was shaking like a leaf, with one trembling finger pointing straight at Scar. 

"My darling, what's wrong?"

"You! You killed my parents! You killed the only people I had in the world! Get out!"

Scar tried to come closer to her. It wasn't his best decision.

Lena's eyes welled up as a chilling scream left her throat. Winry jumped backwards, pushing her chair back and then stood up. Scar barely showed any indication that he was taken aback but this series of events, but he felt as though his skin was being ripped off his flesh. Winry tentatively approached Lena, wanting to pull her into a bear hug but not wanting her to run off in fear. Lena backed away, so she Winry stopped herself from coming closer. Maya gaped at her wife, not knowing how to react to how utterly terrified she looked.

The first one to act after that was Scar. He stood up and quietly left the house. Seeing that, Winry apologised and ran after him.

"Scar, Scar, what happened back there?"

He quickened his pace, pretending to have been oblivious to her voice. It wasn't easy for her to catch up to him, having shorter legs than he did, but she managed. 

"Scar?"

He stopped in his tracks. There was a look of sheer confusion across his face that shocked WInry.

"I... I don't know okay. Maybe I hurt her... Maybe I hurt someone close to her... I don't remember!" his eyes were darting around, "Maybe it was when I... I... I killed your..."

"Scar, you were delirious, you weren't thinking straight," she came closer and cupped his face in her hands, "None of this would have happened if it weren't for the war. You're not the only one with blood on his hands."

"I... Let's just go back to the hotel, okay? I'm sorry but I don't feel well enough for dinner."

"That's okay. I'll call one of the mechanics and ask them to show me around. Come, let's go back to the hotel."

 

* * *

 

"Mrs Elric? Your eleven o'clock is here!"

Winry wiped the perspiration dripping from her forehead off onto the sleeve of her jumpsuit. She took off her safety glasses and her gloves, before walking over to the sink in the corner of the room to wash her hands. Then, she emerged from the workshop that she had been assigned too.

"Ahmed, please drop the Mrs Elric, my name is WINRY," she laughed as she approached the front desk. She stopped in her tracks, "Lena."

"Ah... I'm sorry, I didn't even get your n-... I'm sorry," she turned around and tried to leave.

"Wait, no, come back."

"No, I think I've humiliated myself enough."

"Lena, you're a client. Come in, let me take a look at your automail."

 Lena's eyes scanned Winry's face before cautiously approaching her. Winry backed away and pushed open the door to the workshop and waved her in.

Winry noticed that Lena's gait was unsteady and almost instantly she knew that one of the steel parts must have expanded, causing the balance of the structure to be shifted off-centre. She ushered Lena to a chair and pulled up another one in front of her. She pinched the hem of Lena's trousers, as if asking permission to lift it up. Lena nodded in acknowledgement and watched as Winry pushed the fabric off the automail.

"Huh, okay you'll need a part replacement. I'll just head over to-" she tried to stand up to walk over to the storage room, but was pulled by the sleeve, "Huh?"

"I... I... I need my automail fixed but I also need to apologise to you."

"Lena, it's fine. I came at a bad time. It wasn't a good time for you, I-"

"I'm sorry," Lena was still sitting in her chair but she was bowing her head in her seat, "Please, please forgive me."

"No! Please, don't apologise. It's not your fault," Winry's voice was getting softer, "I was like you once. Scar killed my parents."

"He... Then how are you so fine with him around?"

Winry's vision started to blur with tears. Her hands were shaking. She wouldn't have been able to repair Lena's automail in this state even if she wanted to. She put her wrench aside and leaned back in her chair. She looked over to her left and sighed before making eye contact with Lena.

"I wasn't fine at first. I tried to shoot him and I... I couldn't. I was too weak...," her voice trailed off, "But I'm so grateful for that because if I had shot him I would have lost a good friend. I would have lost a part of myself."

Lena watched Winry shift around in her chair uncomfortably. Finally, she spoke up.

"I thought I was getting better. I thought the pain would get smaller," tears fell from her eyes, "But it never did. When I look at him, I still remember."

"Pain doesn't get smaller in size, only in relative. I... I had to learn that the hard way."

"Mrs Elr- Winry, would you like to come over for dinner tonight?" her eyes widened, then she added, "Just you?"

"I'd like that."

 

* * *

 

"Make yourself at home!" Lena called out from the kitchen.

Winry walked around the living room, picking up and smiling at a select few photographs that she saw. There were many children in the photographs -- some who resembled Maya or Lena, and many who didn't in an stretch of the imagination. She remembered Scar telling her that they have fostered many children and volunteered at shelters. Winry wondered how the managed to do that. Between Maya's job as the mayor and Lena's as a doctor in the hospital, it seemed unfathomable that they would still have the time and energy to take care of children, let alone so many in the year or so that they had been married. She made a mental note to ask them for advice for when she and Edward eventually had children.

As she picked up one of the picture frames, a slip of paper folded in half that was weighed down by it caught the breeze from the overhead fan and flew up. Winry almost dropped the picture frame trying to catch it. She slapped her palm over it as it fell to the floor. She gasped. She had slapped it open and saw the first two words at the top of the page.

_Dear Winry_

She quickly folded it and placed it back in its rightful spot. What she didn't know was that Lena had seen the entire thing.

"I see you found your letter," she put the dish she was carrying on the table then slowly advanced towards Winry, "When Maya told me that Scar had a friend named Winry, I knew it had to be you. I've never heard of any other Winry. Then, when I heard that your last name was Elric, I started to doubt myself."

"Lena, what do you mean?"

Lena threw her arms around Winry and pulled her close to her, "Winry Rockbell, your parents were my parents too."

Winry was never particularly strong. She was stronger, even stronger than average, but she wouldn't be able to fight someone like Edward or Alphonse at hand-to-hand combat. It just wasn't something she was trained to do. But when Lena was holding her so tightly and saying things that she couldn't understand, she pushed her away from herself with a force that she didn't know she had in her.

"What? You're... what?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to overwhelm you. Come, let's sit down over there, " she cocked her head towards the couch in the living room, "I'll tell you everything."

 

* * *

 

 Lena's head throbbed as she slipped in and out of consciousness. Her eyelids were heavy, willing her to sleep. Sleep... Sleep...

"Stay with me, stay with me!" she heard a female voice shouting at her.

"Mama...?"

 

\--

 

She only fully regained consciousness a day later, waking up to the tightness in her right thigh. When her vision finally focused, she realised that she was staring down at a bandaged stump where her right leg used to be. Her heart started beating faster and her throat tightened. In spite of that, she somehow managed to scream.

A woman wearing a coat that had been covered in so much blood and dirt that it was difficult to even be sure that it used to be white rushed into the tent. She had long, wavy blonde hair that was pulled back into a loose bun, and she had eyes the colour of sapphires. She proceeded to take Lena's hands and kiss them tenderly.

"It's okay. You're okay. Please, tell me what your name is."

"Le-Lena."

She released Lena's hands and bend down to pick up a bottle of water that had been placed next to the bed. She twisted the cap open, causing a resounding 'click' amidst the deafening silence, and handed the opened bottle to Lena.

"Drink this."

Lena complied. She never had to do much to convince her to drink it anyway -- Lena was parched. She tipped the bottle and allowed the clear liquid coat her mouth and flow down her throat, her tears falling as she thought about how it had been so long since she's had water that didn't taste like soil. Soon, the last drop had been poured out of the bottle, and she cursed herself for not drinking it more sparingly. She placed the bottle by her side and looked at the woman who was looking at her intently.

"Lena, my name is Sara Rockbell. You'll be staying with my husband, Urey, and I."

"What about my parents?"

Sara let out a gasp and Lena immediately knew what that meant.

 

\--

 

"Sugar puff, can you get me the bandages?"

Lena hadn't had her makeshift crutches for long, but she was already quite agile on them. Using the bag that Urey had given her, she helped out plenty in the makeshift medical centre by transporting medical supplies such as bandages and medicine. She felt honoured to have been able to help the sick and injured heal alongside Sara and Urey. They even taught her how to apply dressing to wounds and how to tie bandages. She started being known in the village as "the little helper". 

She brought the bandages to Urey, who smiled gratefully at her.

Ever since she started working in the medical centre, she hadn't seen anyone die. She started to entertain the thought that it was possible that everyone who was still alive would be able to last till the end of the war. She was confident that the three of them would see to it that everyone was ready to rebuild Ishval from the ground up once the war ended. It would have been the best outcome.

Unfortunately, the end never seemed to be in sight. The chaos kept getting worse and the injuries she saw were worse each time a new patient entered the medical centre. Soon, the Amestrian soldiers started raiding villages and threatening to tear down the medical centre. Lena tried not to let it bother her. She had a purpose, and her purpose was to help people heal. She wasn't going to let the war taint her optimism.

 

\--

 

"Leave," Sara said resolutely.

"What? Sara, why would I leave? I love you, and Urey. You're my parents."

"Leave."

Lena looked past Sara and saw Urey bent over a desk with his face in his hands. He was shaking.

"Lena, leave."

Lena stared at Sara, searching her face for some kind of explanation, "Why, mama?"

Sara clenched her jaw then said, "We needed the help and you were there. It was a matter of convenience. Now we want you to leave and never come near us or the medical centre ever again."

"Mama, please."

"LEAVE."

So she did.

 

\--

 

Lena was stubborn, just like her foster parents. She was determined to find out why the Rockbells had disowned her when they had loved and treated her like their own daughter. She refused to accept that they only took her in so that they'd have another set of hands to help out in the medical centre. There had to be another reason. 

She walked into the medical centre and screamed.

A man with the X-shaped scar across his face turned and looked at her, still looming over the lifeless bodies of Sara and Urey. Lena straightened her crutches and tried to flee.

 

* * *

 

 

"Wha- What did you do after that?" Winry croaked.

"I kept working in the medical centre, taking over all of the duties that Sara and Urey had. I found ways to reuse bandages that didn't need to be sterile and I bribed Amestrian soldiers to bring us medicine," Lena said, distractedly, "Take the letter. I found it among their possessions after they died. I think they meant to send it to you but they never got a chance to."

Winry slowly stood up and walked over to the shelf where she found the letter and took it. She unfolded it with trembling hands.

 

_Dear Winry,_

_Being responsible for another person is a privilege, not a burden. When you have the means to help others, you should always take the opportunity too. Sugar puff, we want more than anything to be able to be back in Resembool with you, your grandmother, and the Elrics, but our duty calls us to Ishval. There are people here who need our help to survive. Unlike us, many of them truly have no one in the world to help them. Please don't think that we chose them over you. We trusted that you'd be safe with your grandmother. We hope that it's not too late to love you if we ever get to return home._

_There's a little girl here who's just like you. She's stubborn and strong-willed, but also soft and kind. Her whole family was killed by a fire started by one of the Amestrian State Alchemists. We took her in as our own. It's the least that we could do when she was robbed of her own parents by a fellow Amestrian. We love her dearly and we think that you will too. It's too bad that we had to send her away. The military has already attempted to kill us a few times, and we barely escaped those attempts. We wouldn't be able to die peacefully knowing that she was put in more danger because we were selfish enough to try to keep her close._

_The best outcome, if we don't survive this war, would be for the both of you to eventually meet. It's a burning hope that we have and are willing to fuel. Her name is Lena._

_We love you, Winry. Happy Birthday!_

_Love,_  
_Mum and Dad_

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you liked it. I think this was one of the most difficult ones to write so far and I'm still not sure if I did it well enough. 
> 
> I felt so weird adding OCs, but this was the only way I could think of to tell Sara and Urey's story while they were Ishval. I really loved and admired them even though they didn't have much of an appearance in Fullmetal Alchemist. I hope that I managed to do them justice.
> 
> Please comment if you have any feedback for me and give kudos if you liked it! :)


End file.
